Chapter 304 : The Label
Chapter 304: The Label
Following the Indonesia tour came the Japan tour.
Even after finishing the Lailyn Show, their overseas schedules continued one after another.
Of course, it wasn't as though they never returned to Korea at all to manage their condition in between, but they never had enough time to truly relax.
Just as they were beginning to miss Korean soil, Stardust finally returned to the dorm.
The moment the door opened with the familiar chime, Ha Junseo raised both arms high and ran straight toward Seochi.
“I've waited sooo long. It's good to see you again, Seochi!”
Apparently, his suitcase had been so full on this trip that he'd only been able to bring Byeoldol with him, and he'd regretted leaving the others behind.
As he patted Seochi on the back of its head, Ha Junseo spoke.
“Seochi, you missed your hyung, didn't you?”
“......”
“Junseo-hyung. Seochi's real-life version, Do Seohan, says he doesn't like this.”
“That expression says everything~.”
Jin Sehyun and Cha Seongbin laughed as they added their comments.
Do Seohan had synchronized perfectly with Seochi, wearing an expression that looked as though he were about to have a seizure.
Blinking, Ha Junseo asked,
“What? Does Do Seohan look upset?”
“Hyung. Put that down already....”
“Ahahahah! Hahaha!”
“Haim-hyung. This isn't the time to laugh, is it? Don't tell me you forgot Chocori's with Junseo-hyung too?”
“Ah....”
At Do Seohan's weighty remark, Seo Haim froze.
After Seochi, now Chocori too.
If you got caught by Ha Junseo, who was collecting the members' dolls one by one, there was no telling if [A Day in Seochi's Life Season 2] would suddenly appear on YouTube.
Shaking his head, Ha Junseo answered firmly,
“Don't worry. Chocori isn't as cute as Byeoldol.”
“Wow. That's blatant discrimination against stuffed animals~.”
“Huuuh!”
Hearing that, Seo Haim immediately ran over to Chocori, who had been sitting on the sofa, and covered its ears.
“Don't listen to him.”
“...Sometimes I seriously wonder about our members' mental ages.”
“The most shocking part is that they all pretend to be normal when they're outside....”
Jin Sehyun clicked his tongue as he watched the ridiculous scene.
Seohan chuckled and joined in.
“They're all just tired.”
“I'm going to sleep first~.”
The dorm was filled with a relaxed atmosphere and pointless jokes.
Normally, Kang Siwoo would've joined right in.
But after returning from the Osaka tour, he needed rest.
Physically.
Mentally.
Recently, one exhausting thing after another had come crashing down on him.
“Hoo....”
Letting out a short sigh, Kang Siwoo casually tossed his jacket onto the bed.
He didn't even have enough energy left to stand back up and put away his clothes.
“What is it, Kang Siwoo? Tired?”
“A little...?”
“Ah. Makes sense.”
Cha Seongbin, who had entered the room, asked curiously before quietly leaving again.
He said he was going to finish unpacking with the younger members, but he had probably left because Kang Siwoo looked exhausted.
His heavy eyelids slowly closed.
“Haaa....”
Groaning again, Kang Siwoo rested his head against the pillow.
No matter how hard he tried not to think, his mind kept growing more complicated.
Whenever he lay still, it felt as though he couldn't breathe, forcing him to change positions over and over again.
Eventually, unable to endure it any longer, Kang Siwoo reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone sticking halfway out.
The text messages displayed at the top bothered him.
The reality he wanted so desperately to avoid was staring him in the face.
[Kang Hyeyoung: We're having dinner this weekend.]
[Kang Hyeyoung: It's Parents' Day. You're not planning to skip it, are you?]
Anyone seeing that would think they were a happy family.
“Since when did we ever celebrate Parents' Day....”
Pressing a hand against his throbbing forehead, Kang Siwoo let out a hollow laugh.
Half-siblings.
That simple phrase couldn't even begin to describe the distance between them.
He had never once called her Noona.
Nor were they close enough for him to do so.
He was, in crude terms, the child of a mistress.
He had never been someone who would be accepted as family in the first place.
So what Parents' Day?
Lowering his head, Kang Siwoo agonized over his reply.
Just then, his phone vibrated.
Bzzz.
Another text from Kang Hyeyoung.
[Kang Hyeyoung: I saw you came back to Korea today. You have time, don't you?]
[Kang Hyeyoung: Meet me once beforehand. You might make a mistake.]
“......”
It was an invitation he could refuse if he felt uncomfortable.
But he couldn't avoid it forever.
Refusing would only postpone the inevitable.
He made up his mind.
Rather than awkwardly facing her later in an even more suffocating setting...
Maybe it was better to take the beating first.
Swallowing dryly, Kang Siwoo turned his phone back on.
Tap tap tap.
For some reason, his fingers moved slower and slower across the keyboard.
It felt as though someone were holding onto his legs.
He didn't want to leave the safety of his bed.
But sooner or later, he would have to face it.
With a quiet sigh, Kang Siwoo pressed Send.
—Let's meet at seven this evening.
—I'll come to you.
The arrow had already left the bow.
The luxurious restaurant was breathtaking from the entrance alone.
Celebrities who valued their privacy often reserved private dining rooms, but judging by the overwhelming silence, they had almost certainly rented out the entire restaurant.
Showing off money.
That hadn't changed one bit.
“Yes. Please come this way.”
Step.
Step.
With an emotionless gaze, Kang Siwoo briefly surveyed the restaurant before following the staff member.
The room at the very end.
There wasn't even a moment's hesitation.
“......”
Kang Siwoo grasped the doorknob.
The moment he opened the firmly shut door, a woman came into view.
It had been almost five years.
Perhaps even longer than that.
A woman who looked exactly like their father raised her head with a cold smile.
Unlike himself, she possessed a chilling aura of her own.
“Oh. You're here.”
Kang Hyeyoung.
The eldest daughter of Taewoon Group's Vice Chairman Kang Byeongtae.
She was widely expected to become Vice President of one of Taewoon Group's subsidiaries next year.
She was nine years older than Kang Siwoo.
Looking at him with icy eyes, she spoke.
“I heard you came back yesterday. Tired?”
“Yes. Still a little....”
“Then food probably won't go down very well.”
Anyone listening would've thought she was a caring older sister worried about whether he'd eaten.
Of course, that wasn't the case.
A mocking smile spread across Kang Hyeyoung's lips.
“Good. What you're about to hear will probably upset your stomach.”
“...Excuse me?”
“We don't have much time, so let's get straight to the point.”
Kang Hyeyoung had always been like this.
She never cared about the other person's feelings during a conversation.
It wasn't that she lacked tact.
She had simply lived a life where she never needed any.
What she said next was even more abrupt than he'd expected.
“I want you to make an official statement through the press.”
...What?
Unable to understand immediately, Kang Siwoo frowned at her.
“What statement?”
“Your background. Your family. All those rumors floating around. Make an official announcement.”
A topic he had never anticipated.
Kang Siwoo answered as carefully as possible.
“If you're worried that this might eventually come out and cause trouble for the company....”
“You're really slow.”
Clack.
Kang Hyeyoung deliberately set her chopsticks down on the table with a sharp sound.
Her pitch-black eyes stared directly into his.
“I'm telling you to expose it yourself.”
“...What?”
“That you're the son of a mistress.”
His mind went blank.
Kang Siwoo froze in place.
“......”
On the contrary, Kang Hyeyoung smiled as though she found his reaction amusing.
“What? Did you think I was telling you to deny everything and bury the rumors?”
“Well... obviously it wouldn't benefit the company either....”
That was precisely why Vice Chairman Kang Byeongtae had even resorted to threats in an attempt to make him quit being an entertainer.
It would become troublesome if his hidden son grew famous and his face became widely known.
He was someone who had always existed as though he weren't there.
Someone destined to be forgotten in the end.
Which was why Kang Hyeyoung's attitude was something Kang Siwoo had never expected.
“Puhahaha!”
She burst into laughter as she looked at him.
“Ah~. The stock price might drop a little? It'll recover soon enough.”
She meant it.
Those eyes gleaming with madness.
He instinctively knew this wasn't an empty threat.
Her gaze turned ice-cold.
“But you make your living off your image, don't you? Once the articles come out, your face will be plastered all over every single one of them.”
“It'll follow you around for the rest of your life like a label.”
For a moment, he couldn't speak.
His lips parted slightly before he finally forced out the words.
“What... exactly do you want from me...?”
Naturally, all he received was a cold sneer.
Kang Hyeyoung slowly looked him up and down.
“What could you possibly have that I'd want?”
“......”
“I just don't want you to be able to continue as an entertainer out of sheer embarrassment.”
“That's all I want.”
He'd heard she'd spent the last three years assigned to the European headquarters.
Perhaps, while she'd been overseas, she'd forgotten all about her illegitimate younger brother.
And then she'd returned to find him working as a celebrity.
Whatever the reason...
One thing was certain.
Kang Hyeyoung was genuinely furious.
“Just thinking about you getting even a tiny share of our father's inheritance disgusts me.”
None of this was his fault.
He had simply been born this way.
What could he possibly have done about it?
But excuses like that would only fuel Kang Hyeyoung's twisted anger.
“Yes, it'd be like spitting in my own face.”
“But I hate you.”
“Isn't that only natural?”
Beneath the table, Kang Siwoo lowered both hands.
They had been trembling uncontrollably this entire time.
He'd tried his best not to show it.
But she had probably seen right through him.
Whether he did or not didn't matter.
If anything, Kang Hyeyoung seemed to be enjoying this even more.
The corners of her lips curved upward.
“I'll give you exactly one month.”
“Within that time, reveal it yourself.”
“I won't stop you from dressing it up in the most favorable way possible.”
“Though I doubt there's much you can dress up.”
Kang Siwoo bit down hard on his lower lip.
He'd long since lost control of his expression.
“But can being the son of a mistress really be dressed up?”
“Well, maybe you could write some dramatic story about the romance of the century.”
“If it's entertaining enough, I'll read it.”
She was the type of person who would do exactly what she said.
That was what frightened Kang Siwoo even more.
No matter what happened...
She was someone who would see it through to the very end.
“But if one month passes...”
“I'll expose it myself.”
Kang Hyeyoung's cold gaze settled on him.
“I know a lot of reporters.”